Saggar.



H. D. LILLlBRIDGE.

SAGGAR. APPLICATION FILED FEB. 21.1919.

1,302,684. Patented May 6,1919.

UNITED STATES PATENT oEEIcE.

HARRY n. LILLIBRIDGE, oEzANEsvILnE, oriro, ASSIGNOR o AMERICAN ENCAUSTICTILING 00., LTD, or NEW YonK, 1v. Y., A oonronnrron or new YORK.

sAeeAn.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 6, 1919.

Application filed February 21, 1919. Serial No. 278,405.

To all whom itmay concern: v i i Be it known that I, HARRY D.LILLIBRIDGE, acitizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Zanesville,county of Muskingum, and State of Ohio, have invented a certain new anduseful Saggar, of which the following is a specification. i i p Thisinvention is a saggar, the novel feature of which consists in meanswhereby tiles are held or supported at three points of contact.

Saggars are employed in thetile industry for handling tiles in theoperations connected with burning said tiles in kilns. In some cases,the saggars are closed structures when tiles are burned withininternally fired kilns, whereas other styles of saggars are open, moreor less, for the free circulation of heat when the tilesare burned inheat-radr ated kilns of the oven or muflie type.

Prior to my invention it: has been proposed to suspend tiles atdiagonally OPPO-e site corners either within saggars, or by adjacentrails supported on short stands or posts, a number of which are adaptedto form a rack to be carried by a suitable truck. Said prior devices actprimarily as the tile supporting means by suspending the indi vidualtiles at two points only, and on a line extending horizontally "acrossthe tile and diagonally between two opposite corners thereof, thusleaving the top and bot tom corners of each tile free and; unsup:ported. Such prior methods of suspension allows the tiles to sway withcomparative freedonnin consequence of which-the tiles become displacedwhen the saggars are handled or the trucks are shifted, as is requiredin'the operations of introducing the tiles into the kiln or removingthe; same therefrom, such displacement of the tiles with respect to thesuspending means being quite objectionablefor the reason that the glazedcoatings, on thesurfaces of the tiles become marked or marred bythecontactof one tile with another. i 3

According to this invention, the saggar is constructed in a novel wayfor supporting vertically positioned individual tile s at three pointsof-contact, the frictional res stance of which is more than sufficientto preclude any and all tendency to displacement of said tiles withinthe saggar when the latter is handled, thus obviating such relativemovement of the tiles as to result in marking and marring the glazedsurfaces thereof by c olntact of one tile with an adjacent tile or t1es.

In aiconstructional form of the saggar em bodying the invention. asingle supporting web, shoulder or ledge is provided in one corner ofthe saggar chamber, the same being unitary with the bottom and one wallso as to occupy a permanent relationto these two parts e.the bottom andone wall. Said web, ledge or shoulder extends longitudinally within thechamber, but it is important that said elementshall bear a definiterelation to the width and depth of the chamber, i. e. that the heightand width of the supporting element be so proportioned with is erence tothe width and depth of the chamber as to cant or tilt the tiles edgewisewhen positioned therein, which edgewise cant or tilt will result in eachvertical tile assuming such an angular relation that the bottom edge ofthe tile lodges upon the corner of the supporting element so as to haveone point of contact therewith, the two remaining points of contactbeing constituted by one lower corner of the tile resting against oneside wall of the sagger, and by one upper corner of said tile restingagainst the opposite wall of the saggar at the upper portion thereof.The weight of the tile, when tilted or canted edgewise within thesaggar, is imposed primarily upon thecorner of the single supportingelement, but the opposite vertically inclined edges of the tile havecontact, at diagonally opposite corners of said tile, with posite wallsof the saggar, which three points of contact between the tile and thesaggar offer such frictional resistance that said tile, or a numberofthem, will not become shaken out of position when the saggar ishandled.

It should be stated that the tiles are placed in contact, back to backin airs, with the glazed surfaces outermost or aoing in oppositedirections, and in the operation of introducing the tiles the attendantslides them vertically and in a downward direction between two sidewalls of the saggar, so that one side edge of the tiles is in contactwith one side wall, there being ample clearance between the other sidewall and the other side edge of the tiles to insure free movement withinthe saggar, which downward introduction of the tiles is continued untilsaid tiles abut the top face of the supportor swing not infrequentlyresults in dislodging the tiles to such an extent as to bring the glazedsurface of one tile into contact with a similar surface of an adjacenttile or tiles.

Tiles loaded into a saggar constructed in accordance with my inventionare not subjected to displacement on the supporting means when thesaggar is handled by the workman, for the reason that each tile isoverbalanced to assume the tilted or canted position within the saggarand to have at least three points of contact with the parts thereof atl, 2, 3, with the lower corner A free from the bottom a. The frictionalcontact of the tile with the saggar at the points 1, 2, 3 affords suchresistance to the movement of the tile, particularly due to theimpingement of the diagonally-opposite cor ners of the tile with theopposite saggar walls at the points 2, 3, that it does not shift itsposition within the saggar when the latter is handled.

The tiles are adapted to be introduced rapidly and easily into thesaggar until the latter is substantially filled, the pairs of tilesbeing spaced for the glazed surfaces to be out of contact, see Fig. l.The loaded saggars are stacked upon a truck and the latter is run intothe kiln, wherein the tiles are burned, after which the truck iswithdrawn and the saggars removed and emptied. Provision is thus madefor the rapid and economical handling and firing of the tiles in largequantities, thus effecting material economy in time, labor and material,all without a tendency to spoil the product by marring or defacing theglazed surfaces thereof.

Having thus fully described the inven tion, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A saggar provided with a single tile supporting ledge or shoulderpositioned in the angle or corner between the bottom and one side wall,said saggar being adapted to contain one or more tiles the bottom edgeof which rests upon said ledge or shoulder and the diagonally oppositecorners of which impinge the opposite walls of said saggar, whereby eachtile is overbalanced within the saggar to assume a tilted or cantedposition therein and to attain at least three points of contacttherewith in order that such points of contact will offer suchresistance to the tile as to preclude displacement thereof within thesaggar.

9.. A saggar provided within the chamber thereof and in one corner orangle between the bottomv and one side wall thereof with a singlepermanently fixed web the height and width of which has a definiterelation to the depth and width of said chamber, said single webafiording an edge upon which each tile is adapted to lodge and to beoverbalanced thereon for the purpose of canting or tilting |said tilewithin the chamber whereby the diagonally opposite corners of the tileimpinge opposite walls of said saggar and said tile is in frictionalcontact by at least three points of contact with said saggar, for thepurposes set forth.

3. A saggar provided within the chamber thereof with a single permanentledge or shoulder the height and width of which occupies a definiterelation to the depth and width of the saggar, said saggar being openfor the reception of tiles which are introduced by sliding the samewithin the saggar for the lower edge of each tile to be imposed upon thecorner of said ledge or shoulder in such manner as to overbalance thetile and to cant or tilt the same edgewise within the saggar wherebyeach tile is adapted for its diagonally opposite corners to impinge0pposite walls of the saggar whereas the lowermoist corner of the tileis free from contact with the bottom of said saggar, the frictionalresistance offered by the saggar at said three points of contactoperating to preclude relative displacement of the tiles within thesaggar.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name this 17th day ofFebruary,

HARRY D. LILLIBRIDGE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. G."

